Are small changes enough for weight loss?

What's better for weight loss, small incremental changes or large sweeping changes? A new study reports that small changes may not be enough for sustained weight loss. But more importantly, should we be asking what changes are most important to make? In this video, I go into the details of the study and a prior 2017 study looking at a similar question. I also suggest ways in which we can approach healthy weight loss beyond the simple message of "eat less move more.".

Table of content
0:00 Introduction of the study
2:10 Characteristics of the group
3:39 Findings from the data
7:17 Conclusion

About us:

[omadjourney]

I failed miserably at big changes that it made me so angry and I gave up, now I'm doing nothing but small steps and I make sure I celebrate every small achievement.

[finagill]

I do better with big changes. I think most of this is that I see results that keep me motivated. In October I incorporated intermittent fasting and clean keto. I'm down 70 pounds.

[m-hadji]

Since last thanksgiving 2021 I cut my carb intake as much as I could. I am not following any diet exactly. I only eat when I am hungry and try to fill on protein. I added No extra fat but stopped buying fat free junks as well. So far came from 230 to 204. A1C was 6.1 on January 21st. And my GCM is showing very happy number. I owe my new life to Dr. Sara Hellburg RIP. Thanks Sara to fight for all of us. And thanks to Diet Doctor network for making everything much more understandable without sacrificing the facts.

[marilynbeth]

I found small changes worked for me. I stopped eating dessert every day and ate them once or twice a week. I went from walking some days to everyday. I lost more than thirty pounds in a year and kept it off three years so far. I'm having trouble keeping my weight up. Eating more vegetables, less processed food, and getting regular exercise makes a difference.

[AzaleaBee]

Strive for improvement, not perfection.

[stephenn]

Small changes are better as long as you keep adding to it. Never get to comfortable. Forward!

[AR-cwhe]

For Hypothyroidism I found that eating better was the key to loosing weight very slowly & not loose my hair. When I cut
500 calories I definitely lost my hair.

[defeqel]

Need to define what is a "small change". Switching from drinking 5 bottles of beer a week to 0-2 can be a small change but can have quite a bit of a difference to how you feel. Switching from potato chips to popcorn can be a small change but likewise make a noticeable difference, or from ice cream to bananas / berries. A person with Celiac Disease cutting their morning bread would be a small change with dramatic results. Often a small change that makes you feel better / more energized or focused, also helps you make the next change.

But yeah, cutting 20kcal per day won't make you lose 5kg over 5 years or anything.

[TheCinder]

I came from eating a lot of junk food and SAD diet. I started with cutting out soda. Then, I cut out all of the junk food. Then, I started exercising semi-regularily. 2 months of eating whole foods and very little fast foods. Then, I found Dr. Fung and started fasting which lead me to Keto. So I am not sure how successful I would have been if I had tried to do it all in one go... I have been Keto for 3.5 years. 2 years higher protein keto.

[freshmanenglishhelp]

I do believe in small changed and encourage everyone who ask my advice to make baby steps; however, I must admit I am not getting results I want either. I am healthier, but not getting results for vanity purposes.

[dpbeardslee]

Love your channel, and I find your videos informative and very helpful. Speaking for myself it took big changes to get the ball rolling. As I've progressed in my fitness and weight loss I've hit the odd plateau, and small changes at those points have been enough to bump me off the plateaus. I think you made a great point about body composition vs. weight loss as, even during the plateaus, I was still adding muscle mass and my waist circumference continued to shrink. So I think both approaches are helpful, but one thing is CRYSTAL clear to me - I'm doing MUCH better with a keto lifestyle than I was when my main staples were peanut butter sandwiches, skim milk, and pretzels. :-)

[ascendikhealth]

Cool video. What if i want to eat high protein and high carb low fat diet because i will gain more muscles and have better performance in the gym. Can i lose weight with this approach?

[billb]

Most people can a pound or two per year, so reversing that trend is all it would take to stay trim for life (assuming that you begin at normal weight when young).

[downbntout]

Those amounts of weight loss were trivially tiny. Half a kg! That's one pound!

[carrotgold]

I got addicted to low carb recipes and ate too much. I went carnivore Jan 1st and am down 30 lbs on March 31st. 🥩🐓🍗🥓🍳🍤🐄🐂

[firetopman]

Dropping dairy helps a lot. Sniff. I love dairy.

In a lifetime perspective 1kg gain a year means 50kg overweight at 50, which pretty accurately describes where I was at 50.

Now down 40 of these, starting with big changes but now mostly just relying on lifestyle, apart from being mindful about not go too low on protein, never really tracking neither macros or calories

I personally hated keto, the way it made me feel, and now, as I almost exclusively eat whole unprocessed foods, I find that eating to satiety is enough for me to get that slow downwards drift that I am confident will help me both shave those last 10kg off, and keep them off

Everyone has to find a way that works for them, but if you are in midlife small changes may be too slow for you, loosing 1kg a year if you are 50 years old and have 50kg to loose would mean you will likely be dead long before you reached your target 😎

[stevec]

I quickly lost 40 lbs after starting keto, too quickly because some of it was lean muscle mass but I got off of 4 high BP meds. In the next 6 months I regained 10 pounds, likely muscle mass. The problem was that my BP went back up to where I had to get back on 2 meds, one which is a diuretic which raises my blood sugar, increases my insulin resistance, which then makes weight loss more difficult. A real catch 22, but if I lose that 10-15 lbs, my BP will likely normalize again.

[donaldevanshennings]

Restricting calories leaves you hungry and eventually you will fail.
If you are taught what causes fat storage or usage you can eat appropriately and lose excess weight without getting hungry and you will be able to stick with your new diet.

[T-aka-T]

It would be good if the researchers and commentators stopped saying "overweight or obese" and treating them as a single category. True, there is a SPECTRUM, but if you only have two meaningful categories, it might be useful not to lump them together. Someone 100 lb over is not in the same boat as someone with 5 lb to lose.